[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":260},["ShallowReactive",2],{"player-en-salif-kourouma":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"achievements":6,"affiliate":10,"birthPlace":11,"birthYear":11,"body":12,"boules":11,"boulesModel":11,"club":11,"description":227,"extension":228,"faq":229,"flag":242,"fullName":48,"height":11,"image":243,"lastUpdated":244,"meta":245,"nationality":68,"navigation":10,"nickname":58,"path":246,"role":247,"seo":248,"socialLinks":11,"stem":249,"tags":250,"worldTitles":11,"__hash__":259},"players\u002Fplayers\u002Fen\u002Fsalif-kourouma.md","Salif Kourouma - Côte d'Ivoire's Back-to-Back African Tete-a-Tete Champion | Petanque Player Profile",[7,8,9],"African Champion, Tete-a-Tete (Nouakchott, Mauritania, 2025) - Côte d'Ivoire's first-ever African title in the category","African Champion, Tete-a-Tete, retained (West African sub-regional championship, Abidjan, 2026)","African Championship bronze, men's triplette (Nouakchott, Mauritania, 2025)",true,null,{"type":13,"value":14,"toc":217},"minimark",[15,20,99,103,107,111,161,177,181,184,188,210,214],[16,17,19],"h2",{"id":18},"salif-kourouma-quick-facts","Salif Kourouma - Quick Facts",[21,22,23,34],"table",{},[24,25,26],"thead",{},[27,28,29,32],"tr",{},[30,31],"th",{},[30,33],{},[35,36,37,49,59,69,79,89],"tbody",{},[27,38,39,46],{},[40,41,42],"td",{},[43,44,45],"strong",{},"Full name",[40,47,48],{},"Salif Kourouma",[27,50,51,56],{},[40,52,53],{},[43,54,55],{},"Nickname",[40,57,58],{},"Savana",[27,60,61,66],{},[40,62,63],{},[43,64,65],{},"Nationality",[40,67,68],{},"Côte d'Ivoire",[27,70,71,76],{},[40,72,73],{},[43,74,75],{},"Club",[40,77,78],{},"Comoé Pétanque Club (Marcory, Abidjan)",[27,80,81,86],{},[40,82,83],{},[43,84,85],{},"Signature event",[40,87,88],{},"Tete-a-tete (individual)",[27,90,91,96],{},[40,92,93],{},[43,94,95],{},"African titles",[40,97,98],{},"2 (Tete-a-tete, 2025 and 2026)",[16,100,102],{"id":101},"côte-divoires-first-african-individual-champion","Côte d'Ivoire's First African Individual Champion",[104,105,106],"p",{},"Salif \"Savana\" Kourouma is the most successful individual competitor in Ivorian petanque history. Before November 2025, no Ivorian player had ever won the African Championship's tete-a-tete (head-to-head, individual) title. Kourouma changed that in Nouakchott, Mauritania, and backed it up seven months later on home soil in Abidjan, giving Côte d'Ivoire back-to-back continental individual crowns.",[16,108,110],{"id":109},"career-overview","Career Overview",[104,112,113,114,117,118,123,124,128,129,132,133,137,138,141,142,145,146,150,151,155,156,160],{},"Kourouma's breakthrough came at the ",[43,115,116],{},"10th African Championship",", held in Nouakchott, ",[119,120,122],"a",{"href":121},"\u002Fcountries\u002Fmauritania","Mauritania",", from 22-28 November 2025. In the tete-a-tete final, he beat ",[119,125,127],{"href":126},"\u002Fcountries\u002Fcomoros","Comoros","'s ",[43,130,131],{},"Zaidou"," 13-7 to claim the title - the first African championship crown of any kind for an Ivorian player in the individual format, and a historic result for Comoros too, since Zaidou's run to the final (via a 13-11 semi-final win over ",[119,134,136],{"href":135},"\u002Fcountries\u002Fmadagascar","Madagascar",") marked the first time Comoros had ever reached an African Championship final in any discipline. Kourouma added a second medal at the same tournament: the Ivorian men's triplette of Kourouma, ",[43,139,140],{},"Assan Fabrice",", and ",[43,143,144],{},"Gnaoré Hermann Didier"," edged ",[119,147,149],{"href":148},"\u002Fcountries\u002Fniger","Niger"," 13-12 in an earlier round before winning bronze by beating ",[119,152,154],{"href":153},"\u002Fcountries\u002Fsenegal","Senegal"," in the bronze-medal match, after Tunisia defeated ",[119,157,159],{"href":158},"\u002Fcountries\u002Fdemocratic-republic-of-congo","Congo-Kinshasa"," 13-8 in the final.",[104,162,163,164,168,169,171,172,176],{},"Kourouma retained his individual title seven months later as host nation at a West African sub-regional championship in Abidjan (21-24 May 2026) - reported by different outlets as both the \"Zone 2\" and \"Zone 3\" championship - beating a Nigerien finalist 13-7 at the Comoé Pétanque Club in the Marcory commune, in a field of seven nations that also included ",[119,165,167],{"href":166},"\u002Fcountries\u002Fburkina-faso","Burkina Faso",", Mali, ",[119,170,154],{"href":153},", Guinea, and ",[119,173,175],{"href":174},"\u002Fcountries\u002Fbenin","Benin",". Côte d'Ivoire collected three medals at the event overall: Kourouma's individual gold, plus a doubles silver (losing the final 13-6 to Guinea) and a triples silver (losing the final 13-2 to Benin). Ivorian sports press covered him at the tournament alongside organizing-committee president Hussein Awada at a pre-tournament press conference, reflecting his standing as the face of the host nation's campaign.",[16,178,180],{"id":179},"playing-style","Playing Style",[104,182,183],{},"Public reporting on Kourouma focuses on his results rather than a detailed technical profile, so this page does not assign him a fixed pointer or shooter designation the way some players' profiles do. His specialty, tete-a-tete, is petanque's purest individual test: a single competitor must both point (place boules close to the jack) and shoot (strike an opponent's boules) without a teammate to share the load, and his back-to-back continental titles in the format point to a complete, well-rounded game rather than a narrow specialism.",[16,185,187],{"id":186},"achievements-and-honors","Achievements and Honors",[189,190,191,198,204],"ul",{},[192,193,194,197],"li",{},[43,195,196],{},"African Champion, Tete-a-tete"," (Nouakchott, Mauritania, 2025) - Côte d'Ivoire's first-ever African title in the category, beating Comoros's Zaidou 13-7 in the final",[192,199,200,203],{},[43,201,202],{},"African Championship bronze, men's triplette"," (Nouakchott, Mauritania, 2025), with Assan Fabrice and Gnaoré Hermann Didier",[192,205,206,209],{},[43,207,208],{},"African Champion, Tete-a-tete, retained"," (West African sub-regional championship, Abidjan, 2026), beating a Nigerien finalist 13-7",[16,211,213],{"id":212},"legacy","Legacy",[104,215,216],{},"Salif Kourouma's 2025 tete-a-tete title broke new ground for Ivorian petanque, and his 2026 title defense on home soil confirmed it was not a one-off. In a country whose federation leadership has been repeatedly contested in recent years, Kourouma has given Ivorian petanque a rare and consistent point of on-court success - and, as the sport continues to grow in Côte d'Ivoire, a face for the next generation of players to measure themselves against.",{"title":218,"searchDepth":219,"depth":219,"links":220},"",2,[221,222,223,224,225,226],{"id":18,"depth":219,"text":19},{"id":101,"depth":219,"text":102},{"id":109,"depth":219,"text":110},{"id":179,"depth":219,"text":180},{"id":186,"depth":219,"text":187},{"id":212,"depth":219,"text":213},"Salif 'Savana' Kourouma profile: the Ivorian petanque player who won Côte d'Ivoire's first-ever African tete-a-tete title in 2025 and retained it in 2026.","md",[230,233,236,239],{"question":231,"answer":232},"Who is Salif Kourouma?","Salif Kourouma, nicknamed 'Savana', is an Ivorian petanque player. He won Côte d'Ivoire's first-ever African tete-a-tete (individual) title in 2025 and defended it in 2026, becoming the country's most decorated individual competitor at continental level.",{"question":234,"answer":235},"What has Salif Kourouma won?","In November 2025, Kourouma won the tete-a-tete title at the 10th African Championship in Nouakchott, Mauritania, beating Comoros's Zaidou 13-7 in the final - Côte d'Ivoire's first continental title in the category. He also won bronze in men's triplette at the same tournament. In May 2026, at a West African sub-regional championship in Abidjan, he retained his individual title, beating a Nigerien finalist 13-7.",{"question":237,"answer":238},"Where does Salif Kourouma play?","He represents Côte d'Ivoire internationally and is associated with the Comoé Pétanque Club in the Marcory commune of Abidjan, the venue that hosted the 2026 sub-regional championship.",{"question":240,"answer":241},"What position does Salif Kourouma play?","Public reporting on Kourouma does not specify a fixed pointer or shooter role, consistent with the individual (tete-a-tete) format that is his signature event, where a single player must both point and shoot.","🇨🇮","\u002Fimages\u002Fplayers\u002Fsalif-kourouma.png","2026-09-01",{},"\u002Fplayers\u002Fen\u002Fsalif-kourouma","All-rounder",{"title":5,"description":227},"players\u002Fen\u002Fsalif-kourouma",[251,252,253,254,255,256,257,258],"salif kourouma","savana","cote d'ivoire petanque","african champion","tete-a-tete","ivorian petanque","comoe petanque club","abidjan","H-pfc6UCwSKpNyg5Zyu3KyLeBig5pSPFsloQXcxd-9E",1790080188884]